Distributor nozzle plate



p 1950 A. F. STEPHENS 2,523,074 DISTRIBUTOR NOZZLE PLATE Filed Dec. 14, 1945 AF STEPHENS INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y5 a Patented Sept. 19, 1950 DISTRIBUTOR NOZZLE PLATE Arthur Fort Stephens, Beaumont, Tex, assignor of forty-nine per cent to James Houston, Tex.

F. Holt,

Application December 14, 1945, Serial No. 634,909

3 wClaims. (G1. 299-120) rThe .inventionrelates to a distributor plate for anatomizing nozzle which is capable of a wide range of' uses and is particularly adapted for atomizing-or spraying fire fighting fluids.

In ydistributing a liquid, it is often desirable that a maximum area be covered with the fine spray or atomized liquid.

With mosttypes of spray nozzles and particularly nozzles oi the adjustable needle type,'the spray thrown is usually in the form of a cone, leaving an open or hollow central portion where little or no spray strikes the article. a

It "isone of the objects of the present inven-- tion to provide a distributor for a nozzle wherein the spray is distributed in the form of a solid cone;= where the spray isuniformly distributed throughout the cone, including allot the central portion, and the periphery a well.

' Another object of the invention is to provide a distributor plate for an atomizing nozzle for fire fighting equipment wherein the distributor plate isutilized to break up the solid stream of liquid entering th nozzle so that as it passes through the outlet'orificait is broken into a fine spray which will be uniformly distributed.

Another object of the invention is to break up the column of liquid prior to its entering the spray pattern is obtained by pressing the material along anedge of a tongue area out of the plane of the plate in one direction, and by curving the material along the adjacent or intersecting edge out of the plane of the plate in the opposite direction.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a distributor plate having a plurality of slits arranged therein for distributing the liquid passing therethrough.

Other and further objects of the invention will be readily apparent when the following description is considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein- :outlet orifice of the nozzle so as to obtain a uni- Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a distributor plate;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the distributor plate taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2.

In Fig. 1 the nozzle construction embodies a fitting 2 threaded at 3 for connection to a pipe or hose to supply the liquid which is to be distributed. A gasket 4 may form a seal with the end of thepipe or hose and the fitting 2 is rotatable over the flange 5 formed over the end of the conduit 5. I

A valve l is connected in the conduit 6 and may be of any desired type but a plug 1 rotatable by means of the handle 8 has been shown.

Where the invention is to be utilized as a distributo'r for fire fighting materials the pipe 6 may be of considerable length so that the operator may stand some distance from the spray, but of course the nozzle may be applied to any other-type of conduit. The pipe 5 is shown at 9 as having been bent to an angle. The conduit is threaded at H) to receive the head M. This head isrnade up of the fitting l2 which is engaged as at l3 to provide a chamber M. A cap I5 is threaded at l6 onto the nipple and serves to clamp the gasket [1, the distributor plate l8, and the retainer ring la in position.

This cap has the outlet or orifice 20 disposed therein which serves to discharge the fluid which is being sprayed.

I It is desirable as indicated above to obtain a spray which forms a solid cone of atomized material. With the usual type of spray nozzle the liquid approaches the orifice such as 20 as a solid stream and as a general rul results in a cone of spray which is hollow and does not apply a sprayto'the entire area enclosed by the cone. With 1 the present construction, however, the distributor plate It is provided in order to break up the column of liquid entering thechamber I4 and. as seen inFig. 2 this plate or disk l8 has been provided with a slit 22 crossing the medial portion of the disk and the second slit 23 which intersects the first slit. These two slits 22 and 23 divide the central portion of the plate into the areas of a plurality of tongues or tongue portions 25, four in this case. Also, the intersection Figure 1 is a side elevation of a, nozzle construction showing the distributor, part in section, in position therein.

of the slits divides each slit into two slit radii 28 extending diametrically opposite each other from the plate center. These tongues have been bent in a peculiar manner in that, for instance, with any particular tongue 25 the edge 26 thereof has been bent downwardly, with respect to Figure 1, from the plate while the adjacent tongue edge 21 has been bent upwardly of the plate; in other words, th tongue has been warped in such a manner that one edge of the tongue extends on one side of the plate while the adjacent edge extends on the opposite side of the plate with the point or apex 28 of the tongue being approximately in the plane of the plate. It is appreciated that it is rather difficult to, visualize such a structure but it is believed Fig. 2 illustrates the arrangement by showing that the edge 2'! is a straight edge on the inside of the plate while the edge 29 is a curved edge on the outside of the plate.

In other words, th tongue is formed as a segment of a cone so that the area 38 thereof forms a passage for liquid which will tend to throw the liquid out of the plane of the plate l8 and tend to discharge it laterally therefrom.

As seen in Fig. 2 there are four of these tongues 25, all of which are identically and symmetrically formed. 'To avoid confusion, it is pointed out that the position of the plate l8 shown in Fig. 3 is the reverse of th position which it occupies in the nozzle as shown in Fig. 1. Consequently it should be" noted that the use of the terms upwardly and downwardly hereinbefore are relative applications of the terms to the position of the 'plate in Fig. 1.

This plate as seen in Fig. 1 is clamped between thdg'asket H and the spacer ring I9. It will be seen therefore that the liquid being discharged against the inside of the partition 32 of the cap I5 will be given a swirling motion as it approaches the orifice 20.

As the direction of the streams from the sev eral openings 30 thus converge on the orifice 29, the direction thereof has been changed and it is found that the spray from the opening 20 constitutes a cone or column of spray. In actual operation the nozzle has been very effective in distributing fire fighting material.

It is believed that the operation of the nozzle and the distribution of the spray liquid when equipped with the distributor plate of this invention will be readily apparent.

What is claimed is:

1. A distribution plate for sprays comprising a 4 metal plate, two intersecting slits forming four projecting tongues of material, each tongue being twisted out of the plane of the plate so that one edge projects inwardly and one edge projects outwardly and the tongue curved thereby so that adjacent edges of adjacent tongues form a distribution orifice.

2. A distributor plate for spray nozzles comprising a plate, slits intersecting centrally thereof so that two radially adjacent and centrally intersecting slit radii define a tongue area thereinbetween, one edge of each tongue being curved along a slit radii and out of the plane of the plate in one direction and the other edge along an adjacent slit radii of the tongue being pressed out of the plane of the plate in the otherdirection, the apex of the cone section thus formed remaining proximate the plane of the plate.

3. A distributor plate for spray nozzles comprising a plate, slits intersecting centrally thereof so that two radially adjacent and centrally intersecting slit radii define a tongue area thereinbetween, each tongue being warped in the form of a cone segment with one edge curved along a slit radii and out of the plane of the plate in one direction as the cone segment base to provide a discharge opening, the other edge along an adjacent slit radii being straight and pressed along a slit radii out of the plane of the plate in the other direction sothat the discharge from the opening is deflected away from the plane of the plate. I

ARTHUR FORT STEPHENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent? UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 544,122 Rigby Aug. 6, 1895 912,691 Koenigkramer et al. Feb. 16, 1909 1,105,993 Munson Aug. 4, 1914 1,741,665 Thompson Dec. 31, 1929 1,756,483 Estep Apr. 29, 1930 2,369,357

Kunz Feb. 13, 1945 

